The Association of Nigeria Energy Distributors (ANED), says Nigeria needs to generate about 30,000MW to guarantee stable supply of electricity in the country.
ANED also called for the decentralisation of the national grid to ensure improved transmission and distribution of power in Africa’s most populous nation.
Executive Director, Research and Advocacy, ANED, Sunday Oduntan, said this on Tuesday in Lagos at a workshop organised by ANED in collaboration with the Macarthur Foundation Project.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the workshop had as its theme: “Building Consumer Awareness and Strengthening the Customer Service Capacity of Electricity Distribution Companies.’’
Oduntan said Nigeria with a population of more than 200 million people was currently generating less than 5,000MW which was grossly inadequate to meet the energy needs of the nation.
According to available statistics, there are 32 million households in Nigeria.
“If Nigeria can generate 30,000MW today, we will have 24 hours of electricity in Nigeria.
“South Africa has a population of 67 million people and are generating 46,000MW which is more than enough for the country,’’ Oduntan said.
He said only 28 power plants in Nigeria were currently operational with 25 powered by gas while three were hydro power stations.
Oduntan said the thermal (gas-powered plants) were faced with challenges such as gas constraints and inadequate capacity utilisation to the detriment of the country.
He also enjoined the DisCos to deploy modern technologies to improve their services to customers.
Oduntan, who is the spokesperson for the DisCos, however maintained that the companies could only distribute the volume of power allocated to them by the TCN to their customers.
He advised customers to join the campaign against energy theft and by-passing of prepaid meters by some unscrupulous persons which was causing revenue losses for the electricity sector.